When a company named Transtoll is awarded a contract on the Sea to Sky highway, you can bet it isn't to carry out line painting.
In fact, the wholly owned subsidiary of Macquarie Atlas Roads, a part of Macquarie Group, has a single focus - tolls ... and how to collect them.
So... the BC Ministry of Transport has continually denied that there are shadow tolls on the Sea to Sky highway. Perhaps then, the ministry (and the minister) can explain this June 2010 (post-Olympics) news release from the company itself.
Dan Toohey, Executive Vice President at Transtoll, said “The accuracy of the trafficcounting system is extremely important on the Sea to Sky Highway because the roadway is financed through a shadow tolling scheme. Transtoll is pleased to provide our experience and expertise to allow the Concession to optimize their system and capture accurate vehicle counts in a cost effective manner”.That would make the ministry and the minister - liars.
What's happening is that the happy skiers bound for Olympic Whistler are getting a free ride on a highway most British Columbians will never use but will pay for anyway. I'll have a lot more on that in the future.
In the meantime, read more at Laila Yule's.
5 comments:
I miss responsible news media.
I really, really do.
Jack Webster, for all his foibly faulty failings, would have been all over government lies, any government, even if he agreed with the policy. He would have acknowledged that he agreed with the policy and then lambasted them for lying to the electorate about it.
Vancouver news media has had a pretty good track record of producing strong, opinionated journos with no fear of government backlash.
What do we have now? Spineless sycophants and well lubricated courtiers and courtesans with gaping orifices.
Bill Good? I think his father would be appalled at the whore his son has become.
Palmer and Smythe? The only thing they're really interested in is maintaining access. So if it looks like James and the NDP are ascendant, they'll kiss that ass. If it changes back to the Libs, they'll kiss that one - they don't care.
The aluminum walker crowd at the Times-Colonist are only concerned with not being sued for inducing strokes or coronaries.
The rest of the poor benighted province is subject to the whims and vagaries of the various gases that emanate from Greater Vancouver and South Island.
I feel badly for Laila.
She's done some great digging and writing on this file and others.
But the reality is that it will be a cold day in hell before any of the sorry excuses for major news media in this bedevilled domain we like to call (British) Columbia will touch this information with a pole vaulting bamboo.
She's lucky, as we all are lucky, that there is still a certain reticence about street shootings among the criminal political class that rules us.
No telling how long that may last.
Dana, you brought a tear to my eye with that comment. Thank you, I could not have said that better.If you had told me years ago that the government would have cached versions of links and documents removed from Google by morning of items I use in my stories, I would have said your were crazy. I discovered that occurred to one of my related stories this morning.
Now I wonder if I am the crazy one when I see this happen.It only drives me harder to reveal it all before its gone forever.
Thank you. There is more to come on this, and other projects,in the days to come.
If they dont get me first..lol.
You're welcome, Laila.
This morning we see that Vancouver citizens are going to be on the hook for the Olympic village after all.
Anybody want to take bets on whether the Sun or Province haul out the old promises about this never, ever happening, not in a kazillion years?
I thought not.
Better get a copy of the Globe and Mail Monday : ) there is hope in this world
Heh! I believe His Immenseness, the man who appointed himself interim leader, is sitting on a nice fresh grenade.
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